Israel Scores Moral Victory at UNESCO while Sweden Disgraces Itself

Tuesday, May 2, was a good day for Israel at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization but not such a good day for the Arab bloc and their allies. As Israel was celebrating its 69th year of independence, the Arab bloc, instigated by the “Palestinians” and composed of dysfunctional nations like Lebanon and Sudan, submitted anti-Semitic resolution to UNESCO’s executive board seeking to undermine Israel and its nexus to Jerusalem and other sites of importance to Jewry as well as Christendom.

The resolution reaffirms previous UNESCO resolutions which offer skewed versions of history that are entirely divorced from reality. Jerusalem is once again referred to as “occupied” and Kever Rachel or Rachel’s Tomb, a site referenced and revered by Jews world over for over 3,000 years, is referred to as the “Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque” and a “Palestinian site.” The Arabs of Judea & Samaria, who have no real culture or history of their own, have aggressively engaged in a form of cultural appropriation, adopting Jewish sites as their own or otherwise Islamofying them.

The resolution also “deplores” attacks on UNRWA schools without noting that Hamas terrorists have been caught stockpiling their rockets in UNRWA schools and have often fired their rockets and mortars from school grounds. It calls on Israel to lift its “closure” on the Gaza Strip without noting that Israel imposes no restrictions on humanitarian aid entering the Strip but that Hamas continuously attempts to smuggle arms – including long-range rockets – into the Strip for the sole purpose of attacking civilian infrastructure.

It’s not the first time that UNESCO has sunk to the depths of depravity. Twice last year – in April and then again in October – similar resolutions were forwarded and passed. This year was no different but it appears that with each resolution, the Arab bloc is losing significant support.

Last April the Arab bloc secured 33 yes votes. In October it only managed to secure 24. In the instant vote, the Arab blocked eked out only 22 yes votes. But the no votes increased significantly from 6 to 10. The final tally was 22 yes, 10 no, 23 abstentions and 3 no shows.

More significantly, the only democratic European government to side with the despots in this round was Sweden, a nation led by a cowardly and hypocritical leftist government that has firmly ensconced itself with those who favor medieval despotism over democratic values. The Arab block may have won this political bout but it was a pyrrhic victory at best. The voting pattern appears to be working firmly in Israel’s favor with the Arab bloc hemorrhaging support with each successive vote.

Germany, the United States, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Paraguay, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Togo and Ukraine threw their support behind Israel.

In times past, many of these nations, like Greece and Togo, would have automatically sided with the Arab bloc. India, which has historically aligned itself with the Arab bloc, abstained. Relations between Israel and India have warmed in recent years with the latter seeking Israeli expertise on everything from water purification techniques to military technology. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the process of warming ties has only accelerated. Modi is scheduled to visit Israel this summer – the first time an Indian PM has visited the Jewish State – where he is expected to seal significant defense deals, which reportedly includes procurement of the Barak-8 air defense missile system for the Indian Navy and the Spike anti-tank guided missile for the army.

Despite the fact that Israel scored a moral victory and its global political outreach strategy appears to be yielding dividends, Israel still has a score to settle with Sweden, a nation whose government has systematically voted against Israel in every UN forum and has publicly adopted viscerally hostile attitudes toward its democratically elected government. Sweden’s rancid foreign minister, Margot Wallström, falsely accused Israel of committing extrajudicial killings and obscenely blamed ISIS terrorist attacks in Paris, on Israel.

Sweden’s most recent UNESCO’s vote also lays bare its government’s abject hypocrisy. Sweden claims to champion human rights but its voting record and dealings with despotic Muslim nations tell a markedly different story.

In fact, Sweden was rumored to be one of the five EU nations (Belgium has since apologized for its vote) that voted in a secret ballot to place Saudi Arabia on the UN Commission on the Status of Women, a body designed to promote women’s rights and gender equality. Saudi Arabia is a nation that punishes rape victims, forbids women from driving, forces women to don oppressive Islamic style coverings when appearing in public and executes gays.

In February, a high-level Swedish government delegation composed of mostly self-described “feminists,” donned hijabs and long coats while on an official state visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran. While Iran was busy suppressing its own people, exporting terror and visiting destruction on Syria, Yemen and other regions throughout the Mideast, the hijab-wearing, sharia compliant Swedish feminists were busy signing trade agreements with the tyrannical mullahs.

Following the vote, Israel rightfully summoned Sweden’s ambassador to Israel, Carl Magnus Nesser for a well-deserved dressing-down. But this mild political tap dance may be insufficient to persuade the Swedes to alter their tone. It is clear that the current radical leftist Swedish government has decided to ally themselves with anti-Semitic xenophobes and despots. It should be just as clear that the time has come to send Sweden’s ambassador to Israel, packing.